 (Vatican Radio image - share)PONTIFICAL ECCLESIAL ACADEMY: LEAVE ASIDE PERSONAL AMBITIONS THAT DO MUCH HARM TO THE CHURCHVatican City, 6 June 2013 Pope Francis addressed this morning the 45 members of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy whom he received this morning in the Clementine Hall of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, with their president, Archbishop Beniamino Stella. It is the institution that trains candidates for the Holy See's diplomatic service. Below, please find the complete text of the Pope Francis’ remarks to the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. Dear Brothers in the Episcopate, Dear priests, dear sisters, friends I extend a warm welcome to all of you! I affectionately greet your President, Archbishop Beniamino Stella, and I thank him for the kind words he addressed to me on your behalf, remembering the welcome visits that I have made in the past to your Casa. I also remember the friendly insistence with which Bishop Stella convinced me, now two years ago, to send to the Academy a priest of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires! Archbishop Stella knows to knock at the door! The problem was on my end, because I not found a priest to send, and I chose a “marathoner” . . . I sent him. A grateful thought goes also to his colleagues and to the Sisters and staff, who offer their generous service in your community. Dear friends, you are preparing for a particular ministry of commitment, which will place you in the direct service of the Successor of Peter, of his charism of unity and communion, and of his solicitude for all the Churches. The work that is done in the Pontifical diplomatic service requires, like any type of priestly ministry, a great inner freedom. Live these years of your preparation with commitment, generosity, and greatness of soul, so that this freedom can really take shape in you! But what does it mean to have this interior freedom? First of all it means being free from personal projects, being free from personal projects: from some of the concrete ways in which perhaps one day, you had thought of living your priesthood, from the possibilities of planning for the future; from the perspective of remaining for a long time in a “your” place of pastoral action. It means freeing yourself, in some way, even with respect to the culture and mindset from which you came, not by forgetting it, much less by denying it, but by opening yourself up, in charity, to understanding different cultures and meeting with people even from worlds very far from your own. Above all, it means vigilance in order to be free from ambition or personal aims, which can cause so much harm to the Church, taking care to always put in the first place not your own self-fulfillment, or the recognition that you could get whether inside and outside of the ecclesial community, but the greater good of the cause of the Gospel and the fulfillment of the mission that has been entrusted to you. This freedom from ambition or personal aims, for me, is important, it’s important! Careerism is leprosy! Leprosy! Please, no careerism! For this reason, each of you must be willing to integrate your vision of the Church, however legitimate, every personal idea or assessment, within the horizons seen by Peter, of his particular mission at the service of communion and the unity of the flock of Christ, of his pastoral charity which embraces the whole world, and that, thanks also to the action of the Pontifical diplomatic service, wishes to make itself present especially in those places, often forgotten, where the needs of the Church and of humanity are greatest. In a word, the ministry for which you are preparing – because you are being prepared for a ministry, not a profession: it is a ministry! – this ministry calls you to go out of yourself, to a detachment from self that can only be achieved through an intense spiritual journey and a serious unification of your life around the mystery of the love of God and of the inscrutable plan of His call. In the light of the faith, we are able to live the freedom from our own projects and our own will, not as a cause of frustration or emptying, but as an opening to the superabundant gift of God, that makes our priesthood fruitful. Living the ministry in service to the Successor of Peter and to the Church to which you are called may appear demanding, but it will allow you, so to say, to be and to breathe within the heart of the Church, of its catholicity. And this constitutes a special gift, because, as Pope Benedict recalled when speaking to your community, “wherever there is openness to the objectivity of catholicity, there is also the principle of authentic personalization” (Speech to the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, 10 June 2011). Have great care for the spiritual life, which is the source of inner freedom. Without prayer, there is no interior freedom. You can make a precious treasure of the instruments of conforming your priestly spirituality to Christ Himself, cultivating a life of prayer and making your daily work the gymnasium of your sanctification. Here I am happy to recall the figure of Blessed John XXIII, the fiftieth anniversary of whose death we celebrated a few days ago: his work in the Pontifical diplomatic service was one of the places, and not the least significant, in which his sanctity was formed. Rereading his writings, one is impressed by the care he always took in guarding his soul, in the midst of the most varied ecclesial and political occupations. Here was born his inner freedom, the joy that he conveyed outwardly, and the effectiveness of his pastoral and diplomatic action. As he said in his Journal of a Soul, “the more mature I become in years and in experience, the more I recognize that the surest means for my personal sanctification and for the greater success of my service to the Holy See, remains the vigilant effort to reduce everything – principles, speeches, positions, affairs, to the greatest simplicity and calmness; in my vineyard, always to prune that which is simply useless foliage . . . and to go directly to that which is truth, justice, charity, above all charity. Any other [way] of doing things, is nothing but posturing and grasping at personal affirmation, which betrays itself and becomes cumbersome and ridiculous.” (Cinisello Balsamo 2000, p. 497). He wanted to prune his vineyard: to chase out the foliage, to prune. . . And some years later, joined to the end of his work in the Pontifical diplomatic service, when he was already Patriarch of Venice, he wrote, “Now I find myself completely in the ministry of souls. Truly I have always held that for an ecclesiastic, diplomacy, so to say, should always be permeated by a pastoral spirit; otherwise, it counts for nothing, and makes a holy mission ridiculous” (ibid., pp. 513-14). But this is important! Listen well: When in the Nunciature there is a secretary or a nuncio that doesn’t go along the way of sanctity, and gets involved in so many forms, in so many kinds of spiritual worldliness, he looks ridiculous, and everyone laughs at him! Please don’t be ridiculous: either [be] saints or go back to the diocese and be a pastor, but don’t be ridiculous in the diplomatic [service], in the diplomatic live, where there is so much danger of becoming worldly in spirituality. I would also like to say something to the Sisters – thank you for coming! – who undertake their daily service among you with a religious and Franciscan spirit. They are good Mothers who accompany you with prayer, with their simple and essential words, and above all by the example of loyalty, dedication and love. Along with them I would like to thank the lay staff who work in Casa. Their hidden, but important presence, allows you to spend your time in the Academy with serenity and commitment. Dear priests, I hope that you will undertake the service to the Holy See with the same spirit as Blessed John XXIII. I ask you to pray for me, and I commend you to the safekeeping of the Virgin May and of Saint Anthony the Abbot, your patron. May the assurance of my prayers and of my blessing – which I cordially extend to all your loved ones – go with you. Thank you!
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POPE FRANCIS AT WED. JUNE 6, 2013 MASS
 Vatican Radio REPORT Everyone has "small or not so small" idolatries in their lives, but the road that leads to God is one of exclusive love for Him, as Jesus taught us. This was the focus of Pope Francis’ morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta Friday. As is custom the Pope reflected on the daily readings and the Gospel episode that recounts the scribe who approached Jesus to ask which, in his opinion, "is the first of all the commandments". Pope Francis noted that the scribe’s intentions were probably “far from innocent”, that he gives the impression of wanting to "test" Christ, if not to "make him fall into a trap". The scribe approves of Jesus’ answer – where he quotes from the bible: " Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone!"- and Christ responds with the comment: “You are not far from the kingdom of God". Pope Francis said that, in essence, with that "you are not far" Jesus wanted to say to the scribe: "You know the theory very well," but "you are still some distance from the Kingdom of God", that is, you have to walk to “transform this commandment into reality”, because we “profess God through our way of life": "It’s not enough to say: 'But I believe in God, God is the only God.' That’s fine, but how do you live this out in your life’s journey? Because we can say, 'The Lord is the only God, there is no other', but then live as if He was not the only God and have other deities at our disposal ... There is a danger of ' idolatry: idolatry, which is brought to us through the spirit of the world. And in this Jesus was clear: the spirit of the world, no. At the Last Supper he asks the Father to defend us from the spirit of the world, because the spirit of the world leads us to idolatry. " Pope Francis continued: "Idolatry is subtle…we all have our hidden idols" and "the path of life to follow, to not be far from the kingdom of God" involves "discovering our hidden idols." The Pope pointed out that this attitude is already present in the Bible, in the episode in which Rachel, Jacob's wife, pretends she is not carrying idols which instead she took from her father's house and hid in her saddle. Pope Francis said that we too “have hid them in our saddle ... But we have to look for them and we have to destroy them," because to follow God the only path is that of a love based on "loyalty": "And loyalty demands we drive out our idols, that we uncover them: they are hidden in our personality, in our way of life. But these are hidden idols mean that we are not faithful in love. The Apostle James, when he says, whoever wants to be a lover of the world makes himself an enemy of God, begins by saying: 'Adulterers!'. He gives out to us, but with that adjective: adulterers. Why? Because whoever is 'friend' of the world is an idolater, is not faithful to the love of God! The path that is not distant, that advances, moves forward in the Kingdom of God, is a path of loyalty which resembles that of married love. " Pope Francis then asked, even "with our small or not so small idolatries" how is it possible not to be faithful "to a love so great?". To do this, you need to trust in Christ, who is "total loyalty" and who "loves us so much" "We can now ask Jesus: 'Lord, you who are so good, teach me to be this path so that every day I may be less distant from the kingdom of God, this path to drive out all of my idols'. It is difficult, but we must begin ... The idols hidden in the many saddles, which we have in our personalities, in the way we live: drive out the idol of worldliness, which leads us to become enemies of God. We ask this grace of Jesus, today. " Mass was concelebrated by Archbishop José Vitti of Curitiba in Brazil, Archbishop Juan Segura of Ibiza, Spain and Archbishop Chirayath Anthony of Sagar in India. Staff from the Vatican Library were present, accompanied by vice-prefect Ambrose Paizzoni, and a group of lay personnel of the Lateran University, accompanied by Vice Rector, Msgr. Patrick Valdrini. SHARED FROM RADIO VATICANA |
| HOLY FATHER'S SUMMER SCHEDULE Vatican City, 6 June 2013 (VIS) – In a note released today, the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household announced that, during the summer period, all private and special audiences will be suspended. The Wednesday general audiences of 3,10, 17, and 31 July are likewise suspended and will resume again from 7 August. On Sunday, 14 July, the Holy Father will pray the Angelus from the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo. From Monday, 22 July, to Monday, 29 July, the Holy Father will travel to Brazil for the 28th World Youth Day. Director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., explained this morning that the pontiff's normal residence for the summer period will continue to be the Domus Sanctae Marthae, even if he will occasionally travel to Castel Gandolfo, as for the SundayAngelus on 14 July. Further, the morning Masses in the chapel of the Domus will be suspended from 7 July. |
| GOVERNMENTS MUST RESPECT, RECOGNIZED AND DECLARED, RIGHTS OF REFUGEES Vatican City, 31 May 2013 (VIS) – “Welcoming Christ in Refugees and Forcibly Displaced Persons” is the title of the document prepared by the Pontifical Councils for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples and "Cor Unum", which was presented this morning at a press conference in the Holy See Press Office. Speaking at the conference were Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglio and Cardinal Robert Sarah, respectively presidents of the two dicasteries. Also participating in the presentation were: Mr. Johan Ketelers, secretary general of the International Catholic Migration Commission (CICM) and Dr. Katrine Camilleri, assistant director of Jesuit Refugee Service Malta and recipient of the 2007 Nansen Refugee Award (United Nations Refugee Award, ACNUR-UNHCR). “Our document,” explained Cardinal Veglio, “is a pastoral guide that starts from a fundamental premise, ... which is that every policy, initiative, or intervention in this area must be guided by the principle of the centrality and dignity of every human person. … Indeed, this is the pivot of the Church's social doctrine: 'individual human beings are the foundation, the cause and the end of every social institution'. Refugees, asylum seekers, and the forcibly displaced, therefore, are persons whose dignity must be protected, indeed, it must be the absolute priority. This is why the document recalls the rights granted to each refugee, which promote the individuals' well-being. These are well described in the 1951 Refugee Convention.” “Governments must respect these rights while further [rights to be extended] to the people involved in forced migration must be studied. Protection must be guaranteed to all who live under conditions of forced migration, taking into account their specific needs, which can vary from a residency permit for victims of human trafficking to the possibility of being granted citizenship for those who are stateless,” the cardinal observed. On the contrary, he noted, it is occurring more and more frequently that refugees are subjected to confined detention, interment in refugee camps, and having their freedom to travel and their right to work restricted. “It would be very different if their recognized and declared rights were properly respected. After all, the States have established and ratified these convention to ensure that individuals' rights do not remain just proclaimed ideals or commitments that are subscribed to but not honoured. … The Church, for her part, is convinced that the pastoral care for all persons who, in various ways, are involved in forced migration is a collective responsibility, as well as [the responsibility] of each individual believer. … In close connection to moral values and the Christian vision, we mean to save human lives, to restore dignity to persons, to offer hope, and to give adequate social and communal responses. Letting ourselves be challenged by the presence of refugees, asylum seekers, and other persons who have been forcibly displace compels us to go out of our closed world, which is familiar to us, toward the unknown, in mission, in the courageous witness of evangelization,” the prelate concluded. Cardinal Sarah then referred to the four million displaced persons within Syria, noting the 80,000 deaths, in less than two years, that have been “collateral effects” of the conflict. In this regard he observed that, up until the 1950's, in war there was a proportion of 1 civilian victim to 9 military casualties while today that amount has been inverted and dozens of thousands of people are in flight, “in the attempt to, at least, save their lives”. He also referenced the population of the Sahel region of Africa, condemned to hunger because of drought, likening the situation to that in the American states that have recently been hit by tornadoes. He emphasized that, “at whatever latitude, the fight against against natural catastrophes is absolutely unequal and gives a sense of how humanity is at the mercy of nature instead of being its responsible custodian.” The cardinal did not overlook those who, even in Europe, are unemployed and condemned to “a 'structural poverty', who pay the price of political choices with their own lives”. Many of these persons chose the path of emigration, unleashing the “phenomenon of a flight of [intellectuals], which further and permanently impoverishes their country of origin”. In this state of things “the Church intervenes in different ways according to her ability, mainly thanks to the worthy work of her charitable organizations and their volunteers”. But “charity, first of all, is wed to the individual … charity isn't a window or a register. Whoever is in need must be able to find a good Samaritan whose heart beats with theirs because they are made alike and because [the good Samaritan] serves Christ [in serving their neighbour in need].” In the same way, charity “has a plural dimension: the refugee, the impoverished, the suffering need a network of ecclesial support that embraces and assimilates them … recognizing the dignity of the person and making them again feel part of the human family, respecting their identity and their faith” because “the Christian community is called to live the ecclesial dimension of charity”. |
| COR UNUM: SUMMER WILL AGGRAVATE CRISIS IN SYRIA Vatican City, 6 June 2013 (VIS) – The Pontifical Council “Cor Unum” called a meeting, from 4-5 June, of the Catholic charitable agencies that are working to combat the crisis in Syria. Around 25 representatives of local churches, charitable agencies working in the region, institutional donors from the Catholic world, the Holy See, and the Apostolic Nunciature in Syria gathered to reaffirm the continuity of their commitment and to renew the Holy Father's appeal that all violence cease and that paths of dialogue and reconciliation, based on respect for all, be opened. The local Churches have responded concretely to the population, both in Syria and the entire region, from the beginning of the conflict. More than 400,000 persons are regularly supported, without discrimination, by humanitarian aid to the cost of more than 25 million Euro. Testimonials confirm the extent of the tragedy: almost 7 million people who need humanitarian assistance, more than 4.5 million forcibly displaced persons, and an ever-increasing number of persons seeking security outside of the country's borders. A more careful analysis of the needs in this area have revealed that, with the onset of summer, the risk of epidemics in the affected population—with pregnant women, children, the elderly, and the disabled in particular jeopardy—will certainly increase along with shortages of medicines and aid. In the face of this alarming situation, the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum” has launched an appeal on behalf of all the agencies involved to economically support the humanitarian efforts and the search for peace, in the hopes of rebuilding a country that has been torn and destroyed by the conflict. The international community must also provide more support to the countries that are receiving refugees and to humanitarian operations there, in order to be able to respond to their growing needs. The international community's mediation efforts, even if more decisive in respect to previous months, still seem insufficient. Thus the risks are increasing that the conflict in Syria might become another endless war in which the first victims are defenceless civilians, who are often treated as targets in the “useless massacre” of this ongoing violence. |
| SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN BILATERAL COMMISSION BETWEEN HOLY SEE AND ISRAEL Vatican City, 6 June 2013 (VIS) – According to a joint communique released today, “the Bilateral Permanent Working Commission between the Holy See and the State of Israel met [yesterday], 5 June 2013, at the Vatican, at the Plenary level to continue negotiations pursuant to the Fundamental Agreement Art. 10 paragraph 2.” “The meeting was headed by Msgr. Antoine Camilleri, under-secretary for the Holy See's Relations with States and by Mr. Zeev Elkin, M.K., deputy minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel. The Commission welcomed the two new heads of the delegations, and acknowledged the contribution of Ambassador Bahij Mansour to the negotiations and wished him success in his new position. The negotiations took place in a thoughtful and constructive atmosphere. The Commission took notice that significant progress was made and the parties committed themselves to accelerate negotiations on the remaining issues, and look forward to an expedited conclusion in the near term.” “The Parties have agreed on future steps and to hold the next Plenary meeting by December 2013 in Jerusalem.” |
| AUDIENCES Vatican City, 6 June 2013 (VIS) – Today the Holy Father received: - the credential letters of the new ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran, His excellency Mr. Mohamed Taher Rabbani, - members of the presidency of the Latin American Confederation of Religious Orders (CLAR), and - Archbishop Beniamino Stella, president of Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. |
| OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS Vatican City, 6 June 2013 (VIS) – Today the Holy Father appointed Fr. Lionginas Virbalas, S.J., as bishop of Panevezys (area 13,000, population 390,000, Catholics 320,000, priests 98, religious 76), Lithuania. The bishop-elect, previously rector of the Pontifical Russian College of St. Therese of the Child Jesus in Rome, Italy, was born in Birzai, Lithuania, in 1961 and was ordained a priest in 1991. Since ordination he has served in several academic, pastoral, institutional, and diocesan level roles, most recently as: consultor of the Jesuit Provincial Curia in Lithuania (2003); adjunct secretary general of Lithuania's Episcopal Conference (2005-2009); and pastor of St. Casimir parish in Vilnius (1997-2005 and again from 2009-2010). He succeeds Bishop Jonas Kauneckas, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit. |
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